Price Presentations and Performances
As a recipient of the Berklee College of Music Faculty Research Grant, Dr. Walwyn completed a second research trip to Arkansas this summer, (2023), to do a deep dive into the four collections of Florence Price at Special Collections at the University of Fayetteville. While in Fayetteville and in Little Rock, Walwyn met with many scholars on the subject of Price and on the history of Little Rock, the birth place of Florence Price.
And as a recipient of the Berklee College of Music Faculty Recording Grant, (2023), Walwyn looks forward to her second Florence Price album next year.
A Florence Price Interpreter and Scholar
Concerto and Solo Performances & Presentations
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Dr. Karen Walwyn
The New York Times critic, Joshua Baron remarked “warmly expressive Karen Walwyn”, on a performance with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero, of the Concerto in One Movement by Florence Price, as “an infectious pleasure”.
Performances by Dr. Karen Walwyn as a Price interpreter, include the Concerto in One Movement in E minor by Florence Price, full concerts of solo piano music of Florence B. Price and she offers lecture recitals which can include short topics of discussion on the music and life of Price along with some performance of her works. In addition, Dr. Walwyn offers online zoom presentations and offers in-person full-length presentations on Price for colleges, universities and for pre-concert discussions for symphonic, choral, band and chamber performances.
Fanfare Magazine gave five 5-Star reviews on Walwyn’s recently released solo piano music by Florence B. Price on Kadoro Klassics entitled Florence B. Price. It was released on April 9, 2022, the birthday of Florence Price. The names of the Fanfare critics are as follows: Colin Clark, Henry Fogel, Peter J. Rabinowitz, Ken Meltzer, and James Harrington. James Harrington also voted this album as one of his top five picks for the 2023 albums reviewed for Fanfare Magazine. Click here to read the review.
The Center of Black Music Research invited Walwyn to record a premiere performance of the Florence B. Price Concerto in One Movement in E minor. While Dr. Walwyn began her scholarly interest in Price during her doctoral studies at the University of Michigan her first time to officially perform Price was when Mr. Morris Phibbs, the former executive director of the center invited Walwyn for this historic moment. The concerto was orchestrated by composer Trevor Weston, and was performed with the New Black Music Repertory Ensemble under the baton of Leslie Dunner in 2011. Albany Records manufactured and distributed the recording.
Emmy-nominated documentary, The Caged Bird: The Life and Music of Florence B. Price,” included Walwyn as a featured artist invited by Dr. James Greeson, producer of the documentary in 2015. Click here to view the announcement of the documentary..
As a scholar of Florence B. Price, Dr. Walwyn traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2016 to visit Price’s childhood home address. During her trip, she came into contact with Price’s original scores and manuscripts in the Special Collections at the University of Arkansas. She also met with Dr. Barbara Jackson, the first editor of Florence B. Price’s works, before Schirmer purchased the Price estate. Her journey concluded in Chicago. She visited Price’s then untombed grave with Mr. Morris Phibbs and Dr. Barbara Wright. She also viewed the property where Price’s abandoned home stands which was near the home of the professional boxer, Joe Louis, and which is where Price’s music was discovered in 2009 by the Gatwoods when they purchased the property.
Arkansas Symphony Orchestra invited Walwyn in 2021, to premiere the performance and to record the now newly released recording (2022) of Price’s authentic score of the Concerto in One Movement in E minor under the direction of Maestro Geoffrey Robson.
